Fostering Love (The Soul Sisters Series Book 1)

by Johns, Victoria

  I’ve also bumped into Tommy a few times and although it’s not been in the least bit awkward, it’s been nice to see his warm and smiling face. When I do see him I can tell he is looking at me and trying to see if I’m ready for more yet, I must be giving off negative vibes though because he never actually asks me. Purps has been a no go zone, not least because they’ll both be there, but because I just don’t feel well enough. Mudjoes has also been Jonas free too, which makes me think he is definitely avoiding me, coffee has always been his go to staple diet item.

  The day of the Mayor’s Day Festival arrives and it’s set to be a lovely sunny day. I go every year and feel blessed to be reminded of the community spirit that is alive and vibrant in my home town. I always take my camera but this time I am officially working, I have a purpose whilst I’m here and I need to get round to as many stalls and activities as I can, I need to capture the atmosphere of the day. Besides that it should be a relatively easy shoot, just point and click and let the magic happen, I’m hoping that the weather only enhances what I capture and I obtain the true essence of a summer festival in my shots.

  Neely and Chris are chaperoning me, we’re all going to wander round and spy out potential photo opportunities. This is their excuse anyway, I know that it’s really because there is a fair chance I will bump into Jonas and Tits will probably be about as well. Lottie and Oli will also be mooching about doing the walk round together, Oli in his capacity as town power retail magnate and Lottie as his fake girlfriend and Sonny and Flo are manning the high school’s ‘dunk a teacher’ stall which as you can imagine is popular.

  When we arrive it’s as lively as ever and I immediately slip into professional mode; taking shots, checking them every so often, changing batteries and swapping memory cards and then repeating it. I’m looking forward to the food stalls and the usual home baked goodies, but as soon as I hit them my stomach starts to roll. By the time I’m knee deep in cakes, cookies, toffee apples and cotton candy I feel really sickly and try to get the shots quickly so I can carry on without losing what little breakfast I had this morning. Chris and Neely continue to scout for picture opportunities but now they’re doing it armed with sugary goodies.

  As we round the one stall I can stomach, Mudjoes coffee, I look up and see Jonas coming in our direction. I freeze and feel the edges of my vision blur, my breathing becomes shallow and I know I’m heading for a panic attack. Neely sees this change in me and then spots the reason and takes measures to keep me upright, by the time my vision returns and I take a glance at him again he looks horrified. He looks like someone has told him there is no Santa Claus and Easter Bunny all in the same day. Chris urges us forward and I keep my death grip on my camera and my eyes revert back to looking at the ground as we get closer.

  “Dalton...”

  “Don’t you fucking dare Jonas, you’ve done enough. Stay the fuck away from her,” Neely sneers and cuts him up sharply. I just hope no one is close enough to witness or hear her, she then leans forward as if this small beautiful thing is going to take a swing at this huge man mountain.

  “Dalton,” he ignores her, “I just need to know you’re OK.” His voice is soft like he’s pleading for an answer, but specifically the right answer to ease his own pain.

  “Of course she’s not fucking OK. How’d you think she’d be after you got your selfish fill of her and then fucked off.” Neely leans in further and snarls this reply back to him.

  “Neely calm down, it’s not the time or the place,” says Chris stepping into the mediator’s position. “Jonas, not now mate, come by the ranch for a beer and we’ll talk,” Jonas just nods at him in reply, looks at me again and then goes on his way, looking at the ground whilst rubbing the back of his neck in frustration. I release my grip on my camera and start to panic.

  “Chris...you... no... Please. Don’t tell him how you found me, you can’t”. He senses my panic and swoops in to calm me down.

  “Dolly sssh, don’t worry, I won’t. I just needed to get kneecap Neely here to step down.” His frustration is clear when he just looks at her and shakes his head. Then we move on and try to carry on with the day.

  A recent development of the Mayor’s Day Festival has been that the event continues into the night, two or three local-ish bands are invited to play into the night and it’s like an outdoor gig with lights, dancing and beer. I need to hang around to cover this even though I’m not feeling well again. The one thing that is new this year is that the beer tent is being provided and manned by the Purps team; unfortunately this means that both Jonas and Tits have a legitimate reason to be here. I have to get shots of this set up because it’s obviously a crowd pleaser. The only other problem with this is that right now the smell of stale beer and kegs is causing my delicate stomach to pitch. I stay as long as I can, avoiding the bar with Chris and Neely and then have to go outside for fresh air.

  When the three of us get outside we see a suspicious looking guy manhandling Tits. It’s clear that they know each other; the argument looks intense and personal. My suggestion is to turn around and head somewhere else, but Neely is keen to hang around and watch so she can give Tits a dose of her own gossipy medicine. However, Chris, ever the gentleman is not at one with letting this plan play out, especially as the man is getting angrier. “I’m going to go and see if Jonas wants to come out and help her, technically she’s working tonight and this is his turf.” It’s a lame excuse, but he can’t really tell me that he’s going to go and get him so he can rescue the mother of his unborn child who looks like she’s about to get punched by some red neck.

  “OK,” Neely says. “We’ll stand by just in case he does anything, although I’m not feeling like she deserves any help. However I may be a witness if he needs it. Oh the bloody irony.”

  Chris scoots off quickly and comes back with a mad looking Jonas in tow. I try and retreat, I don’t want to see him defending her, but Neely isn’t budging, or letting me budge and Chris is clearly flanking Jonas in case things get out of control. This is when the argument really gets going.

  “Jonas honey, it’s nothing, there’s no trouble here; Billy was just leaving, weren’t your Billy?”

  “Take your fuckin’ hands off her and if you still want the opportunity to leave on your own two legs you’ll start doing it quicker,” says Jonas.

  “Ha! Fuckin’ seriously, is this him Letitia, you’ve done good this time. I can see why he’s taking so much time and effort,” replies Billy who still has a mauling paw on Tits’s arm.

  “Billy, please just go, I’m at work,” she says again, looking really uncomfortable now... or maybe she’s afraid.

  “I’m not going to ask again, take your fuckin’ hands off of her.” It’s clear that Jonas’s hold on his temper is rapidly fading.

  “Letitia, what in the fuck possessed you to pick the Hulk? He don’t look like the type you can wrap around that pretty cunt of yours.” The color is draining from her face, as Billy continues, “Time to cut our losses babe, if he ain’t taken you on by now he ain’t going to.”

  “Billy, please,” she’s now visibly shaking and looking worried, whilst the rest of us just watch this car crash unfold, Billy, unfortunately is on a roll.

  “Fuck me, you actually like this chump. What have I told you? A mark is a mark,” he shouts.

  “What did you just say?” Jonas hisses as Chris moves closer to him, this has the potential to go south quickly and he knows it. “I asked you a fuckin’ question and I want an answer,” he repeats.

  “Jonas, Billy is just shouting his mouth off, he’s leaving so we can talk about this later. Yeah?” Tits is shitting herself about something.

  “No one goes anywhere until I get some FUCKIN’ ANSWERS. Start talking.” Jonas glares at her and then shifts his stare to indicate he expects Billy to give him those answers.

  “Jonas...”

  “Letitia, I wasn’t asking you, shut your goddamn mouth,” and sensibly for once, she does.

  “Well Jonas, my
pretty Letitia has been playing you, it’s a baby scam she’s run a number of times on other schmuks. Only this time it seems that the stupid fuckin whore has gone and fallen for her mark.”

  OH. MY. GOD.

  There are tears falling down her cheeks and I feel terrible witnessing this ugliness.

  “Jonas, please, honey, listen to me...”

  “I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP,” he literally roars this in her face.

  “Hey, don’t speak to her like that, otherwise we’re gonna have a big problem man,” this comes from a Billy, who clearly is a dumb ass.

  “You’ve already got a big fuckin’ problem,” Jonas warns him and now Chris is virtually rubbing shoulders with him.

  “Jonas, I’m sorry, I never meant for you to find out like this,” she says.

  “Find out what?” he asks.

  “That she isn’t fucking pregnant you dick, she never was, she just wants your money, only it seems Letitia has upped her game and trying to work it for the long haul,” Billy retorts.

  Jonas is rock solid now. I’m fairly sure he’s in this state so he can keep control of his muscles and probably in an effort to stop him killing one or both of them.

  “Jo, I’m sorry, but...by the time you... I thought...I just.” Letitia is upset and can’t form a sentence that makes any sense or offers any explanation, even if she could, I’m not sure how she’d talk herself out of this one.

  “Jesus Christ. You evil, twisted piece of shit. You fuckin’ lied. What is wrong with you? How were you going to explain it when you didn’t get fatter and a baby didn’t appear?”

  “I...I...things changed, at first I just wanted to hurt you for all the years you used me, for loving you when you didn’t love me back. Then things were different when you came back and I realized we could have a life together, but then you put a stop to that by only wanting the baby,” she says.

  “A BABY THAT DOESN’T FUCKIN EXIST,” he screams in her face.

  “But there would have been,” she sobs while she tries to justify what she’s done.

  “You are the lowest of the low Brunel, what were you gonna do have a fake miscarriage?” Neely asks her, it seems she’s as disgusted as the rest of us and unable to keep quiet. Letitia doesn’t answer her straightaway.

  “We could have got together and then I would have gotten pregnant, but you didn’t fuckin’ want me. You never fuckin’ wanted me it’s always been HER,” she screams back and points at me.

  I can’t believe they’re dragging me into some crazy drama that has absolutely nothing to do with me.

  “I was just a fill in until you grew a set and made a play for her wasn’t I?” she asks a question that I don’t want to hear an answer to and thankfully he doesn’t give her one. When she understands she’s not going to get a response she takes off her bar apron and throws it at Jonas and then walks off. Jonas sends a challenging look at Billy who makes the sensible decision to turn and follow her leaving the rest of us in an awkward no man’s land with Jonas.

  “Jonas, mate, you OK?” Chris asks him quietly.

  “No, I’m not fuckin’ OK.”

  I’ve seen enough and I need to go before I do something stupid and girlie and offer him sympathy or a friendly ear. When Neely and I get near my car, my stomach pitches and rolls and I run to a bush nearby and puke up in it.

  “Hey you OK?” she asks

  “Yep. Just tired and hungry and still getting over my binge-fest.” My reply states the obvious, offers no more information and allows me time to wipe my mouth with a tissue she’s handed me.

  “Well, this makes things interesting,” she says like a mad scientist, cooking up a scheme.

  “No. It doesn’t. I know that tone and I’m warning you, leave well alone. Don’t you remember the state I was in when you found me? He destroyed me, whether there’s a Tits baby or not we missed our time and there are some things best left in the past. I won’t go back. I’m not strong enough to deal with it again. I’m sorry he’s not getting the family he wanted but it’s not my problem. I’m done. Jonas is dead to me.” I finish with a deadly look so she can see I’m serious.

  I stow away my camera and climb in the car as does Neely. As I check in the rear view mirror to ensure I am safe to pullout I realize that standing less than ten foot away from where I puked and made my speech was Jonas and Chris, the look on his face tells me he heard every word.

  *****

  Jonas

  “Mate... I’m not sure what to say to you,” Chris’s voice is quiet because he knows me and I figure he is trying to guess which way this is going to go.

  “I think I need a drink, a fuckin’ large one. Come on.” I turn and head back towards the beer tent and I hear rather than see Chris fall into step behind me. I walk around the back of the bar and grab a bottle of Jack Daniels and two glasses. After pouring a healthy slug in each glass I lean forward on my elbows and rub the top of my head.

  “Jesus fucking Christ, what was she thinking, I knew she was stupid, but not that stupid,” Chris is as dumbstruck as me.

  “Yeah well, it’s just the story of my life isn’t it? My biggest finale is fuckin’ over the woman I want to be with in favor of some scheming tramp. What is the matter with me?” I shake my head as I finish the sentence and then drain the amber liquid in one go.

  “You weren’t to know. Even a tough guy like you has vulnerabilities. Did I ever think I’d see someone callous enough to play that card? Shit No. Every cloud my man, just think of that and grab that silver lining otherwise known as one hell of a lucky escape,” he says. “You know what this means...” Chris doesn’t finish the sentence, but instead opts to pick up his drink and take a gulp.

  “No. Not going there. That is done. You just heard her and I know you did because I did. She is just getting her shit together after my last fuck up and I don’t think rocking up and saying ‘That’s over now it’s your turn’, is going to go down well. Time to let things settle and see where this new job takes me,” I say.

  “Seriously, you’re giving up? I’ll admit what you did to her was bad and as much as we’re buds you know you deserved the punch you took. Maybe this is fates way of intervening? But I’ll tell you now, treat her like shit again and our friendship won’t survive it. You’re lucky I know you’re a good guy at heart otherwise I’d be putting walls up between you and her so fast you’d forget what she looked like. Let’s not forget Neely would cut off your balls and feed them to you as well,” he says.

  “I know what you’re doing. Goading me into making a move isn’t gonna work. I’ll move if and when I want to and right now it’s a fuckin’ huge if. But first I have something far more pleasurable to attend to.” I fish my phone out of my pocket and hit a speed dial. It’s answered within a few rings as I knew it would be. “Sheriff...It’s Jonas Drakeson... Yeah, I’ve got the evidence you wanted and it’s enough to press charges on behalf of the owner of Purps...of course, I’ll be along to complete a statement in the morning.” I hang up and feel slightly better about things.

  “Jonas what’s going on? Who have you just fucked over?” Chris asks.

  “Let’s just say that this schmuk will have the last fuckin’ laugh,” I reply.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Hearing what I did that night made my resolve stronger about staying away from relationships and getting closer to people. Jonas and his past treatment of women were coming back to haunt him, but still the revenge tactics used by that excuse for a woman were despicable. All that said, I wasn’t going to contact him, I’d made my decision just like he'd made his. It was just unfortunate that now both of us were hurting.

  Over the next week I compiled a few different themed folders of all the shots for the tourist brochure and had a final session scheduled with Oli to agree the pictures he was going to use so I could invoice him and get paid. Closing the door on this piece of work meant I had more time to pick up bits and pieces from Mig and Pamela. My test job had been a hit and I’d been officially take
n on as a freelance photographer, it was all very exciting. My first job was to cover some soldiers from the local army base who were scheduled to go out and work in the local community. It was something that they did every year to promote relations in the area where the base was located. My remit was to capture how the different generations responded to the assistance they were providing. As soon as I started I understood what they were after, it seemed that the older people were more grateful and had a deep level of respect for our heroes, while the younger generation weren’t so convinced, they were a lot less respectful. The story Mig was writing was based on the generations view of our armed forces, surrounding the difference and change in media attitudes, propaganda and reporting styles. I captured the shots but found it upsetting. These guys were risking their lives to keep us safe and deserved our thanks, my mind constantly wandered to the sacrifices they made and that then in turn lead me to think about Jonas. I was glad when it was over, but the shots I’d taken were amazing.

  I was still suffering with my health and I gave myself a stern talking to, no late nights, definitely no alcohol, no stressful situations and lots of healthy food, when my stomach could retain it. On a number of occasions I wondered how alcoholics did this to themselves day in day out, either way, I had learnt my lesson.

  Neely never really mentioned Jonas again and she definitely didn’t talk about any hair brained schemes she was considering. I was surprised she’d let it drop, but then she knows I’m not well and probably doesn’t want to add to my worries.

  Chris stayed away for days after Letitia’s big revelation, I checked on him a few times, but he had stuff going on at the ranch. My suspicious mind questions whether he was staying local to keep an eye on Jonas though really.